VF Corporation has been recognized as one of the 2018 world’s most
ethical companies by the Ethisphere Institute. The company said in a
statement that VF is the only apparel company to make to the list,
underscoring the company’s commitment to leading its industry through
ethical business standards and practices.

“We are honoured to be once again recognized as one of the world’s most
ethical companies,” said Steve Rendle, VF’s Chairman, President and CEO in
a media release, adding, “At VF, we believe that business success and
social responsibility are interconnected.”

The world's most ethical companies assessment is based upon the
Ethisphere Institute’s Ethics Quotient (EQ) framework, which offers a
quantitative way to assess a company’s performance in an objective,
consistent and standardized manner. The information collected provides a
comprehensive sampling of definitive criteria of core competencies in the
areas of corporate governance, risk, sustainability, compliance and
ethics.

“While the discourse around the world changed profoundly in 2017, a
stronger voice emerged. Global corporations operating with a common rule of
law are now society’s strongest force to improve the human condition. This
year we saw companies increasingly finding their voice,” added Ethisphere’s
CEO, Timothy Erblich.

The board of directors of Dick’s Sporting Goods, Inc. has authorized and
declared a quarterly dividend of 0.225 dollar per share on the company's
Common Stock and Class B Common Stock, payable in cash on March 30, 2018,
to stockholders of record at the close of business on March 9, 2018. This
dividend represents an increase of approximately 32 percent over the
company's previous quarterly per share amount and is equivalent to an
annualized rate of 0.90 dollar per share.

"The significant increase in our dividend demonstrates the strength of
our balance sheet and the confidence we have in our company's future,"
said Edward W. Stack, Chairman and CEO in a statement, adding, "We remain
firmly committed to investing in the profitable growth of our business and
returning capital to our shareholders."

Nike Inc’s board of directors has announced a quarterly cash dividend of
0.20 dollar per share on the company’s outstanding Class A and Class B
common stock payable on April 2, 2018, to shareholders of record at the
close of business on March 5, 2018.

The company based near Beaverton, Oregon, reported 5 percent sales rise
in the second quarter in December, driven by international geographies and
continued strength in Nike Direct, partly offset by an expected decline in
North America wholesale revenue.

Honigman Style, an Israeli fashion retailer that operates three major
Israeli clothing chains: Honigman Women, Honigman Kids and TNT, has filed
for court protection from its creditors.

The move was announced Wednesday, when the retailer filed for court
protection from creditors in the Nazareth District Court. The retailer is
looking to continue operating in a way “that will enable the company to set
out on a new path,” the Honigman group said in a statement.

The court ordered the appointment of an accountant, Boaz Gazit, and a
lawyer, Keren Reichbach-Segal, as trustees during the period of the stay,
which at this point was ordered for 60 days. The trustees were given
authority to run the company, seize assets, promote various business
interests and run the retailer during the period of their appointment.

The Honigman group runs 150 stores in Israel for its younger consumer
brands, Honigman Women, Honigman Kids and TNT.

Owned by Yaakov and Micha Honigman, the group launched as a single
children’s clothing store in Tel Aviv in 1947. It incorporated as Honigman
and Sons over 30 years ago and changed its management earlier this year,
with the departure of CEO Kobi Moiseh. The company’s former CEO, Micha
Ronen, took the reins back.

Equities research analysts expect Express, Inc. (NYSE:EXPR) to announce
691.56 million dollars in sales for the current quarter.

Zacks reports that several analysts estimate Express’ earnings to come
in between 668.70 million dollars to 713.40 million dollars.

Express reported sales of 678.78 million dollars during the same quarter
last year, which would suggest a positive year-over-year growth rate of 1.9
percent. The company is expected to issue its next earnings report on
Wednesday, March 14.

According to Zacks, analysts expect that Express will report full-year
sales of 691.56 million dollars for the current financial year, with
estimates ranging from 2.11 billion dollars to 2.14 billion dollars.

For the next year, analysts expect that the company will post sales of
2.10 billion dollars per share, with estimates ranging from 2.09 billion
dollars to 2.11 billion dollars.

Net income attributable to the retailer rose about 12 percent to 275.7
million Canadian dollars (220.68 million U.S. dollars), or 4.10 Canadian
dollars per share in the quarter. These figures compare against analysts’
expectations of a profit of 3.80 Canadian dollars per share, according to
Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Luxury watch sales in France surged last year
as deep-pocketed tourists, notably Chinese, returned after terrorism fears
waned, an industry body said Thursday.

Sales of watches worth more than 5,000 euros (6,200 USD) each saw an
increase
of eight percent in 2017 over 2016, a year when visitor numbers dwindled
following a series of terror attacks in France, the Franceclat body said in
its annual report.

"The return of tourists, notably Chinese, explains much of the rebound in
watch purchases," the report said.
Overall sales of jewelry, watches and gold accessories rose one percent
year-on-year to 5.6 billion euros, after a two-percent drop in 2016.
"Watches have become the main contributor the sector's overall
development
in 2017," Franceclat said.

Watches across all price ranges clocked up a four-percent increase last
year, after a drop of six percent in 2016.
The luxury watch segment accounts for just 0.5 percent of unit sales in
that market, but for one third of overall revenue.
"The whole high-end market is back on track, boosted by the Place Vendome
houses," Franceclat said, in reference to a traditional Paris neighbourhood
for luxury accessories.

Paris saw a drop of 1.5 million tourists in 2016 as fears linked to
terror
attacks scared off visitors, especially from China and Japan.
In November 2015, 130 people were killed in Paris when gunmen and suicide
bombers from the Islamic State jihadist group attacked bars, restaurants, a
concert hall and the Stade de France national stadium.

That attack came 10 months after two jihadist gunmen shot dead
cartoonists
and journalists at the Paris offices of satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo.
France is the world's number one tourist destination. (AFP)

Tapestry, Inc’s board of directors has declared a quarterly cash
dividend of 0.3375 dollar per common share. The company said, dividend is
payable on April 2, 2018 to shareholders of record as of the close of
business on March 9, 2018.

Tapestry expects revenues for fiscal 2018 to increase about 30 percent
versus fiscal 2017, to 5.8 to 5.9 billion dollars, with low-single digit
organic growth and the acquisition of Kate Spade adding over 1.2
billion dollars in revenue. The company has also projected earnings per
diluted share in the range of 2.52 dollars-2.60 dollars, an increase of
about 17 percent to 21 percent for the year, including mid-to-high single
digit accretion from the acquisition of Kate Spade.

Sales at Asics in the fourth quarter increased 3.8 percent to 89.9
billion Japanese yen (0.8 billion dollars), reports the brand in a press release. The Japanese
company reported an operating loss of 4.85 billion Japanese yen (0.04
billion dollars) against 4 billion Japanese yen (0.03 billion dollars) in
the same period last year. The net loss shrunk to 2.8 billion Japanese yen
(0.02 billion dollars) against 3.1 billion Japanese yen (0.029 billion
dollars), in the same quarter last year.

For the full year, consolidated net sales increased 0.3 percent to 400.2
billion Japanese yen (3.7 billion dollars), decreasing 2 percent on a
currency-neutral basis. Gross profit increased 3.8 percent to 183.3 million
Japanese yen (1.7 million dollars), however net profit fell 16.7 percent to
12.97 billion Japanese yen (0.1 billion dollars) due to loss incurred on
business restructuring in the European region.

Highlights of Asics’ full year results

Domestic net sales for the year decreased 0.5 percent to 101.1 billion
Japanese yen (0.95 billion dollars) mainly due to weak sales in sportswear,
despite steady sales of running shoes. Overseas sales increased 0.5 percent
but decreased 2.6 percent currency-neutral to 299.1 billion Japanese yen
(2.8 billion dollars), mainly due to weak sales in the American and
European regions, despite strong sales of running shoes and Onitsuka Tiger
shoes in the Oceania/Southeast and South Asian regions as well as the East
Asian region.

In other regions, Asics America widened its loss in the fourth quarter
but saw earnings improve in the full year. In the fourth quarter, operating
loss in the America was 1.97 billion Japanese yen (0.01 billion dollars)
against a loss of 858 million Japanese yen (8 million dollars) in the same
period a year ago. Sales in the America declined 7.2 percent to 23.9
billion Japanese yen (0.2 billion dollars) from 25.7 billion Japanese yen
(0.24 billion dollars). For the full year, sales in the American region
decreased 6 percent or 7.7 percent on a currency-neutral to 106.2 billion
Japanese yen (0.9 billion dollars), due to weak sales in the US.

Sales in Japan decreased 0.4 percent to 119.46 billion Japanese yen
(1.12 billion dollars), due to poor sales in the sportswear segment.
Segment income decreased 6.3 percent to 5.89 billion Japanese yen (0.05
billion dollars). In the European region, sales decreased 1.2 percent or
5.4 percent on a currency-neutral basis to 106.3 billion Japanese yen (0.9
billion dollars). In the Oceania/Southeast and South Asian regions, sales
increased 15.1 percent or 9.5 percent on a currency-neutral basis to 27.7
million Japanese yen (0.27 million dollars), due to the strong sales of
running shoes and Onitsuka Tiger shoes.

In the East Asian region, sales increased 13 percent or 10.4 percent on
a currency-neutral basis to 49.1 billion Japanese yen (0.46 billion
dollars), due to the continuing strong sales of running shoes and Onitsuka
Tiger shoes in China, despite lower sales in South Korea due to
restructuring current retail stores.

Aiming for global growth, Asics had launched a five-year strategic plan,
‘Asics Growth Plan (AGP) 2020’, as its management target since launch in
2015, and has been aiming to achieve 750 billion Japanese yen (7.05 billion
dollars) in sales, 10 percent in operating income ratio and 15 percent in
ROE by FY2020. However, the company said, mainly due to changes in the
consumer trend and sales channels, sales has stayed around 400 billion
Japanese yen (3.7 billion dollars) till 2017, so the company has decided to
revise its plan, in order to put Asics back on its further growth path,
through the priority allocation of its resources to growth areas and the
improvement of profitability.

London - Contemporary British fashion brand AllSaints has signed a
licensing agreement with Global Brands Group (GBG) to expand its
accessories range.

The new agreement will see the Hong-Kong listed firm design, manufacture
and distribute a range of women's and men's accessories for the brand,
including footwear, socks, jewelry and cold weather accessories. The deal
will see GBG beginning to distribute the new ranges globally across all
AllSaints stores and main department stores, starting with its
autumn/winter 2018 collection.

AllSaints currently offers footwear and small leather accessories, such as
wallets and cardholders next to its mainline fashion collections. The
British fashion label launched its first handbag range in 2015, which
continues to do well but is keen to expand across numerous product
categories to reach more consumers.

"With its innovative, contemporary designs and independent spirit,
AllSaints is a perfect addition to our strong portfolio of leading consumer
brands," said Jarrod Kahn, president, accessories, and home, Global Brands
Group in a statement. "As a brand that resonates with consumers globally,
we see significant opportunities for growth, and look forward to leveraging
our expertise to maximize its potential."

GBG is part of the Fung Group. It currently oversees licensing for a number
of fashion brands including Tommy Hilfiger, Kate Spade, Juicy Couture and
Under Armour.